Ask him what he thinks - Mourinho tells Pogba to explain form slump

Reports during the worldwide fixtures claimed Deschamps and Mourinho had spoken about Pogba's form but the United manager denied that was the case.

"He has started training with us in the last few days and is the only one not available".

Pogba put his recent club woes behind him to shine for France, scoring and notching an assist in his country's 3-1 win over Russian Federation on Tuesday.

"I don't comment on my players' performances in national teams", he said.

The Swede's departure has reduced Mourinho's centre-forward options by one, but the Reds manager believes that several members of his squad can play in that role if required. "Ask him when you get a chance when he thinks about it".

Afterwards, Mourinho used his post-match press conference to specifically target Shaw, saying: "Every time they came in his corridor, the cross came in and a unsafe situation was coming, I was not happy with his performance".

The Dutchman was widely criticised for his relatively dour approach at United, with the club enduring a run that saw them win just four matches out of 16.

Mourinho has also defended his treatment of Luke Shaw after hauling him off at half time of United's FA Cup win over Brighton and publicly criticising him afterwards. "I needed more time for this process, which I unfortunately didn't get". He is playing the type of football that I wanted at Manchester United.

The Dutch manager also blasted Mourinho for his unfair treatment of former Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.

As for his controversial substitution against Brighton, he added: "He didn't ask me the question [why he was being replaced] - I told him". "He said I was the king of coaches, not the king of football, for my winning periods with Porto, and because when I left Portugal, I opened the door for more Portuguese coaches to leave".

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